After Bulgaria’s EU accession the country became more than an attractive destination for holidaymakers.

In addition it attracted an increasing number of foreigners keen on buying property, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported.

Holiday homes worth from 400 to 2000 euro per sq m were ‘very attractive’ for foreign purchasers, DPA said.

Some apartments located near the beach or ski lifts reached prices unseen before Bulgaria’s EU accession on January 1 2007. The prices went up by nearly 30 per cent just in the year before the country’s EU entry.

A number of foreigners had already purchased property in Bulgaria some years ago only to sell it and make profit, DPA said.

Others bought houses with gardens planning to settle in the country. Entire English villages, where all the houses are purchased by Britons, appeared in the mountains. Such houses costed nearly 50 000 euro.

The situation was different for the average Bulgarian, who was unable to purchase property without taking credit, DPA said.

The number of property deals reached 280 000 in 2006, marking an increase of 15 per cent as compared to the figures for 2005.

DPA reported that the real hit on Bulgaria’s property market was mall opening. Sofia saw two malls in one year. A dozen of shopping centres were to be built in 2007.